Alarmed in Alaska: Soldotna, AK Recap

Anthony flies to Soldotna, Alaska, flying in a vintage seaplane over the Kenai river. Near the river is Hooligan's Lodge & Saloon, owned by Molly Poland. She's barely paying her bills, and a couple of days before Anthony arrived, the hotel was inspected by the town's fire marshal. If the doesn't correct the violations then they're going to shut the hotel down. Molly doesn't think that they'll shut her down.

When Anthony arrives, he checks the exterior and explains that a hooligan is a local fish. He goes to the front desk and finds no one there. A man finally comes in on a scooter and explains that he uses it because he damaged his leg. Anthony points out the partially finished fireplace and asks why they didn't finish it, and the FD agent explains that Molly purchased the tiles but the maintenance man never put them up. There are still tools sitting on the shelves, and the agent admits that it's typical of the hotel. There's a business center but no monitor for the computer, so they put a picture of a car on top of the tower. The agent admits that they don't have the funds to fix things up, and they don't get paid on time.

There's a fire command station in the middle of the lobby and the agent admits that he doesn't know, or knows how it functions. He has no idea what to do if the alarm goes off, even though he's been there for a year. There are trouble lights flashing, and the agent explains that Molly had a restaurant across the street that burned down a few years ago.

Anthony gets directions to Molly's office and goes up, and he warns her that he's upset. Molly confirms that she had a restaurant that burned down, and Anthony points out the trouble light. She figures that she'd never have a fire at the hotel, and Anthony tells her that she's either very distracted or very stupid. Molly admits that she's incredibly distracted, and Anthony points out how disorganized her uncle is. There are stacks of unpaid bills, and she has two pages of fire department instructions to take care of. They shut her restaurant down, and Anthony asks to see the fire department's checklist. The FD ordered a 24-hour fire watch, and Molly says that someone was there but she didn't tell them to look for fire safety issues. The producers captured the inspector on camera two days earlier explaining the fire watch to Molly.

Continuing down the list, Anthony discovers that Molly had padlocks on her fire exits. Molly says that she had someone steal things from her laundry room, and Anthony goes to check the fire exits for the safety of the guests and his crew. There's a housekeeping cart blocking an exit and she says that it isn't usually there. The video from two days' earlier shows that it was blocking the exit. Anthony tells her to figure out where to put the cart, and discovers that there's no alarm on the exit door when it's opened. Molly says that they just put the alarm sign on the door to scare people. Anthony points out that she overrode the fire department, and Molly shows him the trailer court next door and says that people were sneaking into the hotel and stealing things out of her rooms.

Exasperated, Anthony checks out the rest of the hotel and finds a bolt lock on the outside of a guest room door. He finds a housekeeper, Amber, and she admits that she's never seen an outside lock on a guest room in her life. Anthony calls Molly over and shows her the lock, and she explains that the fire marshal approved it three years ago. All of the downstairs rooms have outdoor rooms so the marshal gave her approval to put locks on the inside doors.

Anthony and Molly go into the room and Anthony points out that the outside door leads to the parking lot. The outside door's frame is sheetrock that is falling off the wall, and he steps outside, locks the door, and then easily kicks it in. Anthony says that the room is nice but he's tired of excuses and doesn't care, and he goes out to the parking lot and sits down on the cement.

Molly follows Anthony out, sits down, and says that she's taking everything he's saying seriously. Anthony wonders why he's there, and Molly admits that she doesn't know how to run a hotel. She breaks into tears and says that she flew in a GM from Las Vegas and he ended up embezzling from her. Then Molly had a stroke from stress. Anthony hugs her and says that he'll help her, and tells her to go upstairs while he functions as a business consultant.

Anthony goes up to Molly's office and organizes bills. It turns out that she's renting her lobby furniture for $90 a week while renting a luxury car. There's a Ladies of Hooligans calendar that has Molly drinking from a beer tap. Anthony calls in designer Carrie Locklyn to renovate the lobby. Carrie says that she's a member of the National Association for Personal Organizers and has dealt with hoarders, and Anthony asks her to clean Molly's office and then her brain.

As a team from Cornerstone goes to work on the lobby, Anthony checks out the bar. It's empty even though it's open, and Anthony finds a sign stating that the bar is not allowed to serve alcohol indefinitely. Molly didn't file the necessary paperwork when she took over the business so they shut her down. The bartender Vern confirms that it's been closed for three months, and the busy season is coming up. He tells Anthony that sales went from $3,000-$4000 on a weekend night to $500.

Anthony has a non-alcoholic beer and asks Vern about Molly. He says that she keeps up with fads and put in an $80,000 two-lane bowling lobby that doesn't work. They take a look at it and Vern confirms that it broke down six months after Molly purchased it. Anthony asks Vern to summon the key employees for a meeting.

Later, Anthony meets with the bartender and the other three employees. They are soon complaining about all of the problems, including the fact that Molly hasn't paid them. The employees agree that Molly has a victim mentality and doesn't own up to what she does. Anthony brings Molly in and has the employees tell Molly that she's a great person but a terrible business owner. The front desk manager, April breaks into tears and says that it all comes back to her. Molly apologizes to all of them, but Anthony isn't convinced that she's going to change. He sends Molly out and then asks the employees if helping Molly is a waste of time. They think that as long as she gets professional education and listens to them, Molly can be a successful businesswoman.

Next, Anthony sits down with Molly's husband. He says that Molly has spent more money since she purchased Hooligan's, and she didn't take responsibility when the restaurant burned down. He says that in general, Molly has trouble taking responsibility for things.

To get Molly to stop making excuses, Anthony sets up a smoke machine to show her what's at stake. Once the halls are filled with smoke, Anthony finds Molly and explains that he created a simulated fire. Molly breaks into tears, saying that she watched her restaurant burned down, and Anthony points out that people in the rooms could be burning to death. They go to set the alarm off, and Anthony says that she should be calling 911 first. Molly isn't sure how to get the guests out, and Anthony tells her to wait for the fire department to come and have people at the front desk taking the guest calls.

They go to the laundry room where Anthony set up the smoke machine, and Anthony points out all of the fire hazards. The dryer lint traps are filled with lint, and Molly says that they have a new housekeeping staff. Tired of her excuses, Anthony says that everything that has happened is her fault because it's her name on it.

Carrie and her team are still working on the lobby and uncluttering Molly's office. Anthony calls in Jeff from an electrical company and he inspects the place. Jeff then says that the upstairs has no fire protection and is going to get new fire detectors. Once he does, Anthony and Carrie show Molly her cleaned-up office. Carrie says that it took her 12 straight hours to clean the place up, and wonders how Molly is running a hotel, a restaurant, and a family in such a mess. Anthony hugs the designer and she goes home to take a shower.

Anthony sits down with Molly and shows her a GPO of the hotel. His company has done a new budget, letting her make $140,000 more a year. Anthony says that the employees need to be paid and shows her a hotel key and her car key. He tells Molly to decide which key is more important, and Molly chooses her business.

Later, Carrie introduces Jeff to Anthony and Molly. They show Molly all the work that Cornerstone did on the lobby, including removing the drop ceiling. Anthony has gotten Molly a new property management system, and Cornerstone finished the fireplace. Carrie has put in a typewriter to replace the computer, and Anthony asks Molly how she feels. She says that she needed a boost of confidence, and Anthony figures that she wants to be successful.